What We Called Therapy After Dark novel · Chapter 18 of 24
Chapter 18: Forty Witnesses
The voice kept going.
"Joanna came to me in March," said Dr. Keene's recorded voice, unhurried. "She needed a way out that didn't cost her."
Nobody in the garden moved.
"And the locked door?" said my own voice, small and wet.
"A little theatre. It makes people feel they've lost control."
My aunt put down her glass.
It tipped, and red wine ran across the cream cloth, and she did not notice.
On the screen behind the speaker, the sixth slide still hung in white light.
My mother was the first to move.
She crossed the grass fast, with her smile fixed, and reached for the laptop on the stool.
Mitch was there before her.
He closed the lid and held it against his chest.
"No, Joanna," he said, quietly.
"Mitch, that is mine."
"Then take it. After."
From the speaker came Keene's voice, patient and fond: "She's paying me. In every way that counts."
A low sound went through the guests.
Dr. Keene stood up.
He set his napkin on his chair and smoothed his cardigan.
"This is a private clinical recording," he said, in the voice I had heard for months. "It has been taken out of context by a distressed young woman. I would urge everyone to remain calm."
"Take it out of context, then," said a voice from the table.
It was Mitch's biggest client, an old man with a cane.
He had put down his fork.
"I'd like to hear the context," he said. "Play it again."
Keene gave a small, pained smile and began to walk toward the side gate.
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